


leave the light on

by blankmaps



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 02:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10629936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blankmaps/pseuds/blankmaps
Summary: Jughead experiments and Betty tries.They’ve never really had the opportunity to make out before. Betty hasn’t had a lot of boyfriends, okay any really, but the guys she’s hooked up with were always deeply dedicated to the mission of finding them places to be “alone”. Jughead seemed more ambivalent to that issue. He loved when it was just the two of them, but less in the backseat of a car context, and more like when they were the only customers in the weird store that still rented VHS so he could try and convince her to watch 'Videodrome' with him."





	

_I don't mind you disappearing_  
_When I know you can be found._

\- In Reverse by The War On Drugs

 

 

Jughead gave her as an easy smile when he looked up at her, rhythmically weaving the frayed edge of a throw pillows between his fingers.  “I guess I pictured my death a bit more Kerouac and a bit less….on a twin bed with your fourth grade class photo watching it all go down.”  
  
“Oh god.” Betty’s face warmed as she reached across him, snapping the picture frame face down on the bedside table, her braids and gapped tooth grin disappearing. Her room was so familiar, like a visual white noise, that she struggled to pick out all the _exceptionally_ embarrassing stuff it contained. Like the ratty stuffed polar bear her Aunt Judy had given her 15 years ago probably qualified, but it was too late for that, Jughead had already comfortably snuggled up against it. He made the bed look even tinier than she thought it was. His back touched the wall, long limbs dangling off every edge. He was so close that when he laughed his breath ghosted across the back of her neck. She teetered on the edge of the bed, her legs crossed in front of her in a neat pile. The juxtaposition of familiarity and his presence was giving her a weird feeling. “No one is going to die.” She said. “They won’t even know as long as you’re just…we’re just…quiet you know.”

He nodded, a strange little smile still tugging his lips up. “You don’t have to do this you know. I’m fine.”

She furrowed her brow. “You’re sleeping in the janitor’s closet. How is that fine?” 

He shrugged. “You’d be surprised, it’s actually a lot less drafty than the drive-in.”

It caught her off guard. The tears pricked at her eyes so suddenly, it was almost unfair, like _surely_ her brain hadn’t had time to process an emotional reaction to that statement. Maybe it had been brewing in her all day, and she just hadn’t ready to process it, how hurt she’d been that her boy- that Jughead, whatever he was, was homeless and hadn’t been able to tell her. Couldn’t tell her, wouldn’t tell her, it didn’t make a difference. She heard it third hand in a series of horrified texts from Ronnie, who had wrangled it out of Archie when she saw Jughead cramming a pair of pyjama pants into his locker (“I know he’s like, philosophically and intellectually above fashion or whatever, but that was too much _even_ for him”). She hadn’t cried all day, though the news wounded her, another deep dig at the same wound split open by her father leaving and Polly not having spoken a word to her in weeks.

“I’m –” She started, but stopped to press her fingers against her mouth, embarrassed at how her voice broke.

“Hey,” Jughead shot up, the sly half-smile suddenly gone. “Hey, I – Betty.” His eyes scanned her face. “What’s wrong? What did I say?” He looked a little frantic. She’d known Jughead almost all her life, his responses were almost universally blunted by sarcasm or irritation. It was strange in these past few weeks to see him react so deeply to things – especially to her. He placed his palm on her knee, carefully, like he might scare her away. “I’m sorry, Bets.”

She shook her head. “No – I just. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You obviously….you obviously didn’t think you could tell me. Just like about the stuff with your Dad.” 

He inhaled, sharp. “Fuck,” he mumbled. His other hand found the edge of her chin, thumb gliding down her cheek bone. Her shoulders trembled with effort, with the work of keeping everything bottled up, of marching forward, over and over again. “Betty,” he whispered, and the way he said her name made her heart drop, like it was something so careful and delicate. “I was scared. I already can’t believe this is happening. With us. I just couldn’t bring myself to give you even more reasons to make it go away.”

She shook her head. “I feel like you don’t trust me.”

His eyes went wide, almost for comedic effect. “Trust you? You’re right, the smartest, most loyal, the fucking _bravest_ person I know…Yes, definitely better to keep you at a distance.”

She laughed, though it annoyed her to do so. “I think I’m just failing at everything. I can’t keep my family together. I can’t keep Polly here. My….you are homeless and I didn’t even know.”

He shook his head. “I didn’t want you to know. I’m sorry Bets. You didn’t need another thing on your plate. I didn’t want you to worry.”

He propped himself up, the sweatpants he mysteriously changed into while she was brushing her teeth riding low. “I’m glad you came over. Even if just for tonight. Until we can figure something else out.”

He exhaled. The smile returned. “Me too. As long as your Mom doesn’t find out and I get to live to cherish this day for the rest of my sad little life.” 

She rolled her eyes. “You’re so –”    

His kiss interrupted her, bold and a little frenetic. It seemed like Jughead always had to work himself up to do this when she wasn’t paying attention, distracted by something else so he had long enough to collect his nerve. She breathed into it, letting him nudge her closer. 

“Is this….” His voice was thin, uncertain. “Is this okay? I don’t want to – I know you didn’t ask me here so…I’m not trying to-”

“Shh,” she mumbled. “It’s okay. I’ll tell you when it’s not.”

They’ve never really had the opportunity to make out before. Betty hasn’t had a lot of boyfriends, okay any really, but the guys she’s hooked up with were always deeply dedicated to the mission of finding them places to be “alone”. Jughead seemed more ambivalent to that issue. He loved when it was just the two of them, but less in the backseat of a car context, and more like when they were the only customers in the weird store that still rented VHS so he could try and convince her to watch _Videodrome_ with him.

He deepened the kiss and his fingers finds the edge of her shirt, lightly grazing above her hipbone. A warmth bloomed in her stomach, prickling down to her thighs. She started to let the familiar feeling move through her, but something stopped her from letting the sensation take over. He was initiating, and she’d allowing him to lead this whole thing, but she could sense the hesitation – the fear maybe? His hand trembled. When Jughead panicked, it happened with lightning speed and often before he ever had enough time to appreciate the consequences. Betty had gotten good at sensing it. “Hey,” she pulled away. His eyes opened, bright, lips parted and glistening. “Are you okay?” 

He shook his head, silently, in a way that Betty didn’t know how to interpret. “Yes. Yes I….I mean yes. I’ve never done this before.”

She smiled. “What? Make out on a girl’s bed?”

“Make out. Period. Ever. To be honest until a few weeks ago, I’d never even kissed anyone.”

The statement made her stomach twist up in an entirely different way. “You what? Seriously? That was your first kiss?"

He didn’t look embarrassed, more just mystified. “Unless you count Ethel accosting me when I was ten, yeah.”

“Juggie, I. I didn’t know.”

“That’s okay. I mean. Are you surprised?”

“Well, maybe a little.”

“I figured I was going to be terrible at it and you’d never let me kiss you again. But I was like, what the hell, might as well have the one and only kiss of my life be with the best girl in the world.” 

She flushed, confused and touched. “That’s so sweet. But what, you’re saying if this didn’t work out you were never going to kiss anyone again?”  
  
He looked at her like she was talking gibberish. “Who else would I kiss?”  
  
“Some….other girl?”

He laughed and shook his head, like the idea was outlandish. “Right, right. Anyway I just don’t know what the fuck I’m doing so you might have to like. Tell me.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Tell you what?” 

Now, for maybe the first time in his entire damn life, Jughead looked like he might have a bashful bone in his body. His cheeks and nose pinked up. “Um. What to do with…you.” 

“To do with me?” Her voice squeaked.

His eyes scanned her face, like he was trying to memorize the moment. “Like I said. I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

She laughed. “Me either.”  
  
He shook his head, fingers brushing long strands of hair out of his eyes. He looked like he was trying to recall words in a language he hardly knew. “I’m not always easy to be around, but. I want to be with you. I want to make you feel good. I want to do things that make you feel good so you’ll want me to do them again. I just don’t know how because…I’ve never wanted to make anyone feel like that before. Does that make sense?”  
  
His words were blunt, matter-of-fact was nothing if not his style, but they threw her. She wasn’t exactly used to discussing _why_ she was making out with someone. It was like Jughead was trying to give her an explanation for a question she hadn’t asked. “Of course, Juggie. I want…I want that too. I mean, I want to make you feel like that too.”

His eyes dropped, examining her knees, scuffed from a hard fall at cheer practice the other day. He looked a little defeated for a moment, but then his gaze returned. “Just tell me what you need okay? I can do whatever, you just have to tell me.”

She smiled, tilted her head and slowly leaned in towards him. The kiss felt easier this time, like some tension had melted away from him. “Okay,” she whispered. “Can you put your hand back um…back where it was? That felt nice.” 

When he kissed her back, she could feel his smile.


End file.
